Stabilized support systems for photographic payloads, such as a gimbal stabilizer for a camera, need to be balanced before use. There are dozens of styles of gimbals, from 3-axis electronic gimbals, to older-style STEADICAM vests (The Tiffen Company LLC, Hauppauge, N.Y.), to a GLIDECAM system (Glidecam Industries, Inc., Kingston, Mass.). Importantly, all of these support systems/stabilizers need precision balance to work properly. However, if the weight on the gimbal is changed, such as by changing a lens or another element, the gimbal must then be rebalanced. Video camera operators do not always have the time to rebalance the gimbal during a fast-paced shoot. As a result, these operators may compromise their creativity by using only one lens so as to forego the time and effort needed to rebalance the gimbal.
Counterbalance products are available, but they are for very niche problems and generally add time and complicate the balancing process. For instance, sometimes a lens is so big and heavy that the camera cannot be physically shifted back far enough to balance the gimbal. In this case, there are counterweights that can be added to the back of the camera to counterbalance the heavy lens. There are also counterbalance products for smart phone gimbals. However, most smart phone gimbals cannot handle a heavier than average load, so a counterbalance is needed in order to keep the gimbal balanced when the phone is in its case or when a smart phone lens accessory is added to the smart phone.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that allows for pre-balancing different loads and different lenses so as to avoid rebalancing of the gimbal following swapping of the loads/lens. The present invention addresses these as well as other needs.